vbb

As mentioned in several previous threads, I'm always window shopping. Anytime I find a car that I'm passively interested in, within about a 200mi radius of my house, I reach out to the dealership (short list includes 997.1 Turbo in manual and a 997.2 GTS in PDK or manual) and ask about their car. The reason I say dealership is because to make the deal work, I'd have to trade my car in or sell it private party. To this end, I've created a thorough document with all pertinent information on my car...recent pics of the exterior and interior, build sheet, service records, etc.) and will email it to dealers so they can evaluate my potential trade.

I've communicated with a handful of dealerships, and they all are tossing out numbers that are way lower than even I expected...and I expected low ball offers. We're talking low $30s, or even $30k even. These are auction prices, and we all know they'd list a car like mine for low to mid $40s easy. I realize their job is to make a profit, but I figured if I'm offering to take a car off of their hands, and a more expensive one at that, and they're definitely making a profit on that side of the deal, they'd at least offer mid to upper $30s. It's either that, or my car really has fallen off the depreciation cliff because I have 55k miles on it, despite meticulous records and garage kept regularly detailed condition.

I figured Porsche dealerships would be a little more understanding of the market, but even they want to give auction prices on trades and ask retail for their cars. Is trading a used 911 in just a bad idea overall? I've never had this issue trading in other cars, but this is my first attempt with a Porsche. I guess worst case scenario I sell it private party, or just keep my car for the long haul and enjoy it, which isn't a bad option. That, or I wait maybe 3yrs and ride the depreciation curve to the bottom. Car that are 10yrs old sell for about the same as cars 12, 13yrs old with the same mileage.

Blu311

What are the details on your car?

Year, S or non S, color, etc...

rickdogg82

When you read the advice of experts it makes more sense. You MUST get a PPI, you MUST borescope the engine, you MUST have service records, etc. Buyers can demand these things from the seller. Maybe it is different when trading a Porsche although with everything else I have ever traded they make sure it runs and give it a basic once over if they even check it at all. The dealer assumes some risk that has to be factored into the trade offer.

vbb

'09 C2 (base) w/PDK and sport chrono. A few other options. $90k MSRP. Black on black. I've posted pics around here somewhere. I get that lower miles and C2S cars are more desirable, but man...

jdjones2010

It Sucks, but i know exactly how you feel cause i've been there. You can wait it out or you mite get lucky & find the right person that wants it bad enuff' to pay what you want, but a dealership is Never going to pay Anything close as they go strictly by the books No Matter what you think of its worth. Even if you have low miles & the car looks immaculate, that's only going to help so much. GL

rbennett

I would keep a close eye on RL and Pelican Parts forums to see what prices other owners are offering their comparable cars at and noticing when they sold.
Even email the owner when car is sold asking details. Trading into dealer would be my last choice.

ltcjmramos

Considering I paid $10k below asking for both my ex-6GT3 and my current 7GTS, their trade-in offer sounds about par for the course. Even taking $10k less than asking, I'm sure they made money. BTW, both cars CPO.

vbb

Yeah, that's where I think I screwed up. I paid too close to asking for my car when I purchased it. It was one of those situations where it had most of the options I wanted and none that I didn't, so I only got about $1000 off of asking price. Had I been a little bit more patient, I probably could have gotten more off. As it stands now though, I am not willing to take the hit that dealerships want me to take in order to trade out of this car and into a GTS or Turbo. Like I said, I probably will end up just riding this out for another two to three years and then seeing where I stand. Was just shocked at the fact that even the Porsche dealerships are trying to offer auction prices for trades. If they're going to give me ten thousand less for the price of my car but then take ten thousand off the price of theirs maybe there's a deal to be made, but when they want me to take that hit and they don't want to take one at all, obviously I'm not going for that.

ltcjmramos

Seldom, if ever, will a dealer trade-in net you as much as selling privately.

vbb

Yeah, that much I understand. I guess where I'm confused and surprised is the fact that I have traded in a lot of cars over the years and although I know I am taking a little hit vs private party, I am usually able to get to a price that we both agree is fair. I can't even get close with my Porsche.

snake eyes

ive notice the values of 997s have dropped significantly lately.
I'm watching carefully as I'm planning on potential jump into a 991.1 4s

Lance Farquhar

The 30k is in line with what I have seen as well from dealers. I have a 03 C4s with a lot of options and I too wanted more for my trade in. I would suggest private sell. I like what Rickdogg82 said. Getting as much of the paperwork together to show that the vehicle has been well maintained will provide confidence that you are selling a good vehicle and not something else. Good luck to you.

mjsporsche

Selling cars privately is not for everyone.

Trading a car is an easy, convenient and a no hassle approach. Almost as easy as leasing and turning the car in at end of lease.

If you want easy, then the lost $$$$ you get in a private sale is ok.

I also think that you can usually push the dealer to increase trade value by a few thousand and with the sales tax advantage, the difference of trade vs private sale is less.

vbb

If you have a 996 C4S and they are still offering you $30,000 for it, that seems like a pretty good deal to me, no? I mean they're offering me the same type of money for a 997.2. A C2, yes, but still.

The value of these cars seems to stabilize somewhere between $20k and $30k. As long as you have a clean car without a million miles on it, it's going to be worth more than $20,000 even if it's 10 plus years old.

I had thoughts of upgrading in the near future, but the more I look into it the more I believe I'm just going to ride the depreciation curve down to the bottom, get my fun out of the car, and then look to sell it in several years.

vbb

Agreed, I have traded most of the cars that I have owned and only sold a handful private party. I understand that I am losing a few thousand dollars by trading vs. Selling private party, but for me usually it is worth it. It can be an extreme hassle selling a car private party because there are a lot of tire kickers out there and I don't have the time to deal with all of them. My surprise does not come from the fact that the trade values are lower than what I would expect to get private party, my surprise comes from the fact that the trade values are so much lower than I would have to expect it. Like I said in an earlier post, I know the market for cars pretty well having studied it virtually every day. Usually the trade values I get for my cars are in a range that everyone believes is fair. I must not have a good sense at all of the Porsche trade market, because trade values that I have been offered are nearly $15,000 less than retail value for some of these cars. That is a humongous gap. Maybe I have just been low-balled by a lot of dealers, but I was surprised to see it that big.